Character Catalog

Izanami, together with Izanagi, gave birth to the eight great islands of Japan and numerous smaller ones, a founding act that shaped the country's geographical and spiritual identity.

Izanami gave birth to the deities of the seas, mountains, winds, and rivers, populating the Shinto universe with sacred natural forces still venerated today.

After her death, Izanami became the ruler of Yomi, establishing the structure of the afterlife in Shinto cosmology and defining the boundary between the world of the living and the dead.

The final pact between Izanami and Izanagi — one thousand deaths against one thousand five hundred births per day — serves as the mythical explanation for the natural growth of the human population.

The first Japanese text to record the myths of Izanami, written on the orders of Empress Genmei. It is considered the founding text of Japanese civilization.

The second written account of the founding myths, offering variant versions of the Izanami narrative and consolidating her role in legitimizing the Japanese imperial lineage.

Izanagi-no-mikoto and Izanami-no-mikoto received the command of the heavenly deities to consolidate and give shape to the drifting land. They were given the heavenly jeweled spear and, standing upon the Floating Bridge of Heaven, plunged the spear into the waters and stirred.

Izanami, having given birth to the god of fire, was burned and died. She was buried on Mount Hiba, at the border of Izumo and Hōki. Izanagi, stricken with grief, wept for a long time around her tomb.

The local accounts of Izumo evoke the places associated with Izanagi's descent into Yomi and the purification rituals he performed upon his return, establishing the practices of misogi.

The norito (Shinto ritual prayers) invoke the primordial deities, including Izanami and Izanagi, as ancestors of the kami and as the founding forces of the Japanese archipelago and cosmic order.

The mythical burial site of Izanami according to the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, located on the border of the ancient provinces of Izumo and Hōki. A shrine dedicated to the goddess still stands there today.

One of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan, dedicated to Izanami. It is considered one of the most sacred sites associated with the creator deities of the Japanese archipelago.

The land of the dead in Shinto cosmology, located beneath the earth or at the boundary of the world of the living. Izanami rules over Yomi after her death and becomes its eternal sovereign.

The celestial bridge from which Izanami and Izanagi created the first lands. It is symbolically associated with Amanohashidate Bay, in the province of Tango (Kyoto).

The first island created by Izanami and Izanagi by stirring the heavenly spear in the primordial ocean. Traditionally identified with Awaji Island (Hyōgo) or a small islet in the Seto Inland Sea.